Embodied Cognition and Language Appropriation: Recycling with Difference by a Child with Congenital Deafblindness and Multiple Disability

Costain, Kirsten; Souriau, Jacques; Daelman, Marlene

doi:10.21827/jdbsc.5.32572

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Iconic and deictic aspects of signed communication are foregrounded. Iconicity for the child with CDB can express bodily-tactile and not visual concepts, and the child may be creative in the symbolic use of bodily-tactile interaction space (Souriau, 2015;Godø, 2018;Forsgren et al, 2018;Foote, 2018;Costain et al, 2019).…”

Section: Bodily-tactile Communication Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How an Intervention on the Bodily Tactile Modality Can Improve Communication

Shakele¹,

Muzata²,

Nafstad³

et al. 2022

JDBSC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: In this case study, performed in a home situation in Zambia, it was assumed that the child with congenital deafblindness had too poor vision to access sign language without support by the bodily tactile modality. The aim was to explore if a theoretically based intervention on Communicative Relations with a role model who demonstrates communication in the bodily tactile modality and builds on knowledge and competence in sign language can improve bodily tactile aspects of communication between the child and her mother and brother. Method: This study has a qualitative single case study design, which enabled a close analysis of the communication between the child and her mother and brother, by a reflective team. Four members of the reflective team provided insight into the videorecorded episodes in home situations such as bathing and play. Data analysis took place before and after the intervention. The intervention was performed by the researcher as a role model, who is a mother herself, and well trained in the Diamond Model and Dialogical Model underlying the theory of Communicative Relations ( Nafstad & Rodbroe, 2015). Results: The results demonstrated that the intervention with the application of aspects of the Diamond Model was effective in face-to-face interaction, gestures and social interaction, and the application of aspects of the Dialogical Model enhanced the ability to reciprocate signs during the interaction. The findings in this study clarify how use of sign language and hand positions can benefit persons with CDB to improve their communication. The study has shown how competent mother and brother were communicating with the child after intervention using ZSL, reciprocation and imitation and hand positions. The utterances that were addressed by the child to the partners in gestural expressions were answered by the partners. Lastly, it has shown the need to focus on whole-body communication, understanding, and relating to communicative expressions. Conclusion and discussion: It can be concluded that the intervention had indeed a positive effect on a variety of bodily tactile communication aspects between the child and her family communication partners. The role model approach that was used in this study enabled mother and brother and child to learn through reciprocation of roles and imitation. It is a natural form of learning which does not necessarily require shared reference to theoretical concepts. In addition, the study showed that only sign language is not enough. There must be a connectedness between signing and adapted interaction patterns.

show abstract

Section: Bodily-tactile Communication Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How an Intervention on the Bodily Tactile Modality Can Improve Communication

Shakele¹,

Muzata²,

Nafstad³

et al. 2022

JDBSC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A tactile experience may leave a physical sensory trace that makes a subjective impression that is remembered, and this impression is then given expression (Forsgren et al, 2018). The re-working or recycling of such expressions in communication reveals reflective cognitive meaning-making (Costain et al, 2019), and a new sign category based on heightened tactile perception in people with CDB has been described (Forsgren et al, 2018). Kreuger (1982) remarks that Katz's work highlights the touch perceiver as exploring the "innards of things" in tactual experience rather than the form aspects.…”

Section: Development Of Communication and Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Tactile Hypersensitivity and “Overwhelming Subjectivity” in the Touch Experience of People With Congenital Deafblindness: Implications for a Touch-Based Pedagogy

Costain

2020

Front. Educ.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tactile hypersensitivity, sometimes referred to as tactile aversion, shyness or defensiveness, is a frequently cited challenge for support partners and educators in working with people with congenital deafblindness (CDB). Touch is the most fundamental of the sensory modalities, rivaling other modalities in complexity and an essential building block of emotional, psychological, social, and intellectual development. Though touch hyper-sensitivity can be a significant barrier to such development, tactual sensitivity can be a resource as touch becomes more motivating and accessible for the person with CDB. This article introduces the notion of "overwhelming subjectivity" in the tactual perception of people with CDB and touch hypersensitivity, with a starting point in Katz's conceptualization of the psychophysiological bipolarity of touch in his pioneering work of 1925 (2016). Though the dual subjective-objective nature of touch has been described by others, Katz's description is one of the neuro-psychological interface of touch perception at the lowest levels of awareness. This article links Katz's phenomenology to that of Merleau-Ponty (1968 to provide a new way of imagining touch hypersensitivity in CDB, and briefly relates this to practical approaches already familiar to support partners. Helping to overcome the deprivation and isolation caused by the overwhelming activation of tactual subjectivity that occurs in touch hyper-sensitivity is an important goal for the partners of people with CDB. The notion of overwhelming subjectivity offers a provocative and novel way of recasting an old and often apparently intractable barrier in CDB that can be useful in thinking about and working with it in the support of people with CDB and other forms of multiple disability and touch hyper-sensitivity.

show abstract

Embodied Cognition and Language Appropriation: Recycling with Difference by a Child with Congenital Deafblindness and Multiple Disability

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

How an Intervention on the Bodily Tactile Modality Can Improve Communication

How an Intervention on the Bodily Tactile Modality Can Improve Communication

Tactile Hypersensitivity and “Overwhelming Subjectivity” in the Touch Experience of People With Congenital Deafblindness: Implications for a Touch-Based Pedagogy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About